Memories of Ilja Serh
54 years ago, on the 8th day after his 46th birthday, the artist Ülo Sooster suddenly left earthly bounds... The night before, he had spoken at length on the phone with my father, complaining of stomach pains. When his studio was opened, a then-popular book, Running for Your Life (Gilmore), was found beside his bed. And Ülo truly did run: in his coat, carrying a thick briefcase, from the Rechnoy Vokzal metro station to his home on Lavochkina Street—about a mile and a half...
At the memorial held in his studio, I saw a lady with a distinctly horse-like face, weeping beside the painting Woman-Horse. Viktor Trostnikov, a mathematician, popularizer, and later a priest, explained to Tenno and me that Ülo was hiding in the black smoke rising from the crematorium’s chimney...
